Out of the top eight seeds in the tournament, No. 5 seeds are the only ones to have never captured a national championship. To add insult to injury for those teams, upsets by their No. 12 seed counterparts have occurred almost every year. In fact, the 2015 tournament was just the fourth time the No. 5 seeds completely avoided a loss. The other three happened in 1988, 2000 and 2007.

No program has seen greater success as a No. 5 seed than Michigan State. The Spartans have never lost to a No. 12 seed in the opening round and have advanced to a pair of Sweet 16s and Final Fours in six appearances as the No. 5 seed.

Year

Winner

Loser

Score

1986

Michigan State

Washington

72-70

1991

Michigan State

Green Bay

60-58

1992

Michigan State

Missouri State

61-54

2005

Michigan State

Old Dominion

89-81

2008

Michigan State

Temple

71-62

2010

Michigan State

New Mexico State

70-67

Michigan State's most memorable run occurred during the 2010 tournament. The Spartans squeaked past No. 12 New Mexico State before needing a buzzer-beater to defeat No. 4 Maryland in the second round. Eventually, the run concluded with a two-point loss to Butler in the Final Four.

Conversely, Virginia hasn't had a ton of luck with its 2-3 record against No. 12 seeds. Two of those losses came in back-to-back tournaments, in 1986 and 1987. The Cavaliers however did advance to the Elite Eight as the No. 5 seed after escaping Providence in the first round.

The No. 5 seeds still win over 60 percent of the time with an 85-47 record versus 12 seeds, but the margin of victory is minimal at under five points.

Last year, all four No. 5 seeds were out of the tournament after the first weekend, including a first-round loss by Minnesota to No. 12 seed Middle Tennessee.

However, if the No. 5 seed can get past the first round, they've been able to advance as far as the tournament final, where three teams have reached the championship but failed to win.

Daniel Wilco has worked at the AJC, Sports Illustrated, and SEC Country. His writing has also appeared on SI.com, Men’s Health, and The Cauldron.

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